Wet OR Dry, thats the question!? Which to use and whats the difference?

[gizmo1990]

I've been cutting some sheet aluminium (2mm thick) and I want to clean the 'burring' up. The ally is anodized black on its sides so I don't want any thing too abrasive, just enough to get rid of the (very slight) burr and smooth out the edges.

So, I've brought some wet n dry paper, what I'd like to know though is, should I use it wet or dry!?

Whats the difference between the 2 methods and their finish quality?

Also what Im doing is fairly intricate, would the method have any effect on this, ie an easier or better finish?

Cheers

gizmo1990

[TeePee]

Wet! You will prolong the life of your material by 10x! wet also gives a better finish, make sure you wipe it ith a bit of turps to remove any residue when you are finished.

[gizmo1990]

Thanks TeePee, should I use soapy water or just plain? I read a article somewhere and they used soapy water, is this necessary?

[turkster]

Wets good on aluminium as TeePee said. I never use it with soapy water. You can get some interesting effects with fine-ish wet and dry, say 400 grit used on aluminium wet. If you put a bit of water on the surface and let a bit of grit/aluminium dust build up in the water (ie let the water get dirty while your rubbing) you should end up with a finely finished matte surface with no sanding marks etc. Very nice effect.

Id go very carefull with your anodised alu. Anodising is only a surface treatment so even with fine wet and dry you could end up taking off too much. IF it just the burr your worried about i'd be inclined to use a fine needle file drawn lightly along the edge rather than abrasive paper.

[GAteKeeper]

or a very sharp knife, drawn backwards - the performance of this depends on the type of burr (mostly broken off is ok but the deformed edges type it wont work)

GK